Winged Gift
by Myannah
Summary: Jojen and Company save a girl from drowning. She is more than she seems and helps them on their way. I don't own the show or the books or the things I take from elsewhere.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a whole different idea of what is to happen in Game of Thrones. I'm going off the series and not the books. And even though I am up to date with the show, I want things to be a little different. I don't own anyone. And I may take concepts from other stories, but it's not a crossover. I did not butcher Emily Dickenson's poem, just used it as I needed. Thanks to her amazing writing.

Chapter 1

Bran Stark traveled with Hodor, Jojen and Meera. It was a good day, weather wise and hunting wise. Meera had caught them each a rabbit and they were enjoying a bit of sunlight as they roasted them. They had a stunning view of a waterfall that they planned on heading to for a quick wash after lunch. But they and their fire were well hidden from any travelers on the cliff. By the time the rabbits were cooked, they heard a commotion coming from above the waterfall. They peaked around their hiding spot and saw that a few men were attempting to cross the river far on the cliff. As they watched they realized that the men were not trying to cross, but merely went to the cliff to throw someone over the edge.

It was girl not much older than most of them. She screamed and pleaded to them but they easily carried her and simply tossed her. As she fell along the waterfall, it appeared as if she'd been stabbed in the back and was bleeding out. The men laughed and left quickly.

Brand watched as she hit the water and disappear. Jojen was on his feet then and raced to the water. Meera ran after him, trying to convince him to leave it alone. But Jojen jumped into the water and swam deep to find the girl. The water around her was red from blood and her face was twisted in agony. Jojen grabbed her and pulled her to the surface. They took deep breaths and he pulled her to the shore, where Meera was watching.

They pulled the girl onto the snow and she coughed, cried and screamed. Blood still running down her back and tinting her long blonde hair.

"Let us help you." Meera said. The girl's hair hid her face, as she started calming down.

"I'm Jojen Reed." He introduced himself. She screamed again and continued crying. Meera pulled the girl's hair out of the way, to inspect the wounds and found strange lumps between her shoulder blades that bled at their ends. She gently touched it and they moved as if they were muscles of their own kind. She yelped and moved away from Meera's touch. She finally lifted her head and looked at the new people.

Jojen jumped when he saw that her eyes were violet.

"You'll freeze to death." She said to Jojen.

"So will you." He said back.

"Not if she dies of blood loss first." Meera stated. The girl's face went pale.

"Let's patch you up." Jojen said as he reached for the rabbit cloak he'd taken off before jumping in the water.

"It already stopped bleeding." The girl said morbidly.

"What did they do to you?" Meera asked.

"They destroyed me." She whispered as she started shivering.

"Come on, we have an extra cloak and a fire, let's get you warmed up." Jojen said and helped her up.

As they walked over to the fire, Meera saw that the girl wasn't wearing anything warm. Her dress was thin and cut really low on her back. The dress had long sleeves but could not provide any warmth. They walked to their camp and Jojen grabbed the extra cloak but before he could throw it over her shoulders, she stepped away.

"No thank you."

"You'll freeze." Jojen tried again.

"No. No. Trust me. I'll be okay." She avoided the rabbit skins. "The fire will work just fine."

"You saved her!" Brandon exclaimed when he saw then. When the girl heard him speak, she looked up at him and stopped walking. She stared at him as if she knew him.

"Bran." She said.

"Who are you?" He clearly didn't recognize her. Meera was on instant alert and kept her knife close.

"I have many names. Right now I go by Aldara." She said. "You're Brandon Stark, that's Jojen Reed, Meera Reed, Summer, and Hodor." She pointed at everyone as she named them. "I know everything."

She fell to her knees next to the fire and started warming herself.

"You have the sight?" Jojen asked as he too started warming up.

She thought for a minute before answering. "I suppose so. I can do a lot more though." She took a deep breath. "I used to fly too."

"You flew off that cliff." Meera said without thinking. Aldara shot a glance at her.

"They cut off my wings. I was an angel."

"A what?" Meera asked.

Aldara stared at her for a minute, confused, and then looked at the other confused expressions.

"You've never heard of angels before?" she asked. "You know, in folklore? Where am I?" she thought for a second before answering her own question. "In the north."

"Bedtime stories?" Bran asked. "I only know the scary ones."

"How about the star named Hope? That's a northern story."

"Um." Bran tried to remember. "Yeah I remember something. A lullaby. Hope is the one with feathers who perches in your soul. She sing the song without words, that never stops at all."

She smiled. "That's the one. That's me."

"I've heard that." Jojen added. "Mom used to sing it to us."

"Did you see her coming here, Jojen?" Meera asked suddenly.

"You can't see hope." Aldara answered. They remained quiet while the two swimmers heated up.

"Hodor?" Hodor picked a cooked rabbit off the fire and motioned it towards Aldara.

"You want to eat something?" Bran asked, picking up on Hodor's message.

Hodor walked closer to Aldara and tried to hand her the stick but she jumped away quickly with a yelp.

Hodor complained and swayed unhappily. Aldara carefully avoided the dead rabbit and touched Hodor gently.

"I'm sorry Hodor. Thank you. But no thank you." Hodor calmed down instantly and walked back to his seat.

"Angels don't eat? You're the easiest companion to have in tough times." Meera stated.

"I don't eat meat." Aldara said. "Believe me, you don't want me touching it. Your cooked rabbits will be hopping around for you to catch again."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"It's winter. You're not going to get anything else to eat." Bran stated.

Aldara smiled. "Don't worry about me." She dug her fingers into the ground and sat back. As they watched, a small bush grew out of nothing and produced fruits. She whispered to the plant and plucked the fruits, handing them out to her companions. The fruit was Bright pink with green leaf-like scales. Meera cut through hers and found the inside to be white with tiny black seeds.

"Where are you heading to?" Meera asked as they all enjoyed the delicious fruit.

Aldara paused with a look of horror on her face. "I don't know." She frowned. "I guess I'm supposed to go with you."

"What does that mean?" Jojen asked. "Supposed to?"

"Nothing with me happens by accident. There's always a reason. I must stay with you."

After a discussion, they headed over to the water and washed their faces.

Aldara wandered into the woods and out of sight. Bran was concerned after a long time when they didn't see her. Just as he was about to alert the others, a song came from the trees. It was a wordless tune echoing through the trees that left them in awe. She strolled back and the melody followed her. And then she stopped singing but the song seemed to drift into their heads and stay there.

"Do you know where we're supposed to go?" Bran asked Aldara when they finally went on their way.

"To the north. Despite several warnings you are still heading to that tree."

"You know about the tree?" Jojen asked.

"I know lots of things. Things that happened and things that will happen. I once stood outside time as if it were marked on the ground in a line. I was not part of time, but I could see everything from the beginning to the end."

"How does it end?" Meera asked, half afraid of the answer.

"Everybody dies." Aldara answered dryly.

"You know when and how?" Meera was aghast.

"The thing about time is that it doesn't really exist. And the outcome may always change, depending on our choices. You had two choices, follow and protect your brother, which will have a different ending from if you had stayed at home. If Bran had never climbed that tower, none of this would have happened. His family might still be…"she stopped.

"My family might still be what?" Bran encouraged.

"Still together." She said quickly. She looked at Jojen and back at the road.

"The rest of the lullaby states that you're a star from the night sky." Jojen walked closer and matched her stride. "That's just a story, right?"

"All the gods live in the sky." She answered. "Is that just a story?" she countered.

"You're a god?" Meera asked skeptically.

Aldara was quiet for a while, thinking. "Just a servant of the gods. An angel. But since you don't know what that is, I guess I'm a demi-god."

"What does that mean?" Jojen asked.

"It means I can't command anyone or expect to be worshiped. Which I don't. I'm just here to help you mortals."

"So you can't die?"

The questions went on for a long time. Eventually she started answering questions with questions of her own. She asked the Reed's about their family and their home. She asked Bran about his strength and his accident.

Before the sun began to set, they found a cave with sufficient space and safety. After inspecting it thoroughly, they set up camp for the night. Aldara went with Meera to hunt. She hid in the trees and whistled, calling the animals to Meera who shot them without struggling.

"Five." Meera counted her rabbits at the fireplace. "That's amazing. What you can do."

"That's one too many." Aldara whispered.

"Oh yes. I forgot you don't eat meat."

"Hand me one." Aldara stood and walked closer. Jojen was closer and grabbed a rabbit. He picked the smallest rabbit and held it out for Aldara.

"Cradle it. As if you love it." Aldara lifted her hand and gently touched the rabbit in Jojen's arms. A spark glimmered over the rabbit and it jerked as if it was merely waking up. Everyone gasped. It struggled against the hands that were holding it and as Aldara placed her hand on its head, it calmed down.

Jojen inspected the Rabbit and only found dried blood where the arrow had gone through.

"You can do that to anything?" Jojen wondered.

"There's a point in death, where I can no longer bring them back. But yes."

"Which point? Because I thought death was pretty much the end." Meera asked.

"There's a place beyond this life. It's built resembling a castle. But you are merely there in a state of existing. It's not life. If you're there, it's too late."

"You've been there?" Bran asked. Jojen let the rabbit go.

"No I can't go there. Unless I've killed a thousand people, defied the gods or actually became a god myself."

"You have to kill a thousand people?"

"I don't have to. It's not like that. I can't kill anyone. Sins kill me. If I do something horrible, like take someone's life, I get weak. Doing anything for selfish reasons will do that to me. I'm only immortal as long as I am selfless."


End file.
